Toss it in a blue bin

Do you know what those numbers on the bottom of recyclable containers mean? Or is it all pretty much foreign to you?

It's OK. OCRRA Director of Recycling and Waste Reduction Andrew Radin was on hand for a presentation at Earth Works on Wednesday April 29 at St. James' Episcopal Church to talk about what to recycle, why we should do it and what OCRRA is.

"Why do we recycle?" Radin asked the small group of community members. "I think we all kind of recognize that we consume a lot of stuff.

According to Radin, we are taking more from the environment than it can bear and the small recycling bins many of us set out by the side of the road is representative of "our penance for the week."

"So many things happen every day that we have no control over. But that's not true when it comes to recycling," he said.

Though the town and village of Skaneateles are not part of the OCRRA system, Radin was invited to speak in order to give people an understanding of what the system is for and why recycling is important.

The town and village opted out of the system when it was set up more than 20 years ago because they had another means of trash disposal. Now there's a local transfer station for residents to use.

"We are the envy of many communities across the nation," he said of the recycling effort in Onondaga County.

OCRRA is not formally a part of county government, but there is a county law that prevents the importation of waste to the county for disposal. The system is funded by the trash collected through tipping fees and community contracts. It also does not get money for service, but instead collects a fee from the trucks picking up the trash.